Practical discussion on contemporary life challenges from an ancient perspective.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

COMFORT IN CHRIST

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the
world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.”(John 14:27)

In a matter of hours, the dreams of the disciples would be
dashed.Jesus would suffer and die—His
limp, lifeless body stretched on a slab in a sepulcher of stone.Knowing the hour was rapidly approaching, Jesus sought to comfort
them.He said in John 14:1-3,

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God,
believe also in MeIn My Father’s house are many mansions; if it
were not so, I would have told you. I go
to prepare a place for you.And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that
where I am, there you may be also.”

Christ gave us peace in our hearts.How could He talk of peace at such a troubled
hour?Jesus knew that such peace did not
depend on outward circumstances, but was the gift of God.Truly, it is, “the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding" (Phil.4:7).It was a favorite word of Jesus.Time after time, we find the Prince of Peace
uttering the words, "Peace be unto
you."We have peace through the Scriptures.Jesus went on to say, "And where I go you know, and the way
you know.”(John 14:4)God has spoken with authority
concerning the issues of life and death.We also have peace through the Spirit (John 14:17-18).The Spirit of God indwells each child of God.
He is called the Comforter.The Greek
word means, “One who stands alongside.”He stands with us that we might stand our burdens.

Christ not only assured peace in our hearts, but the preparation
of our home.Paul said that to be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor.5:8)—and what a glorious
welcome we receive there! A place is
prepared particularly for us.In the
twenty first and twenty second chapters of Revelation, John described the HolyCity
coming down from God as a bride adorned for her husband. It is a place where
there is never a night, and the Lamb is the light.The streets are paved with gold.Gates are fashioned of a single pearl.Walls are made of jasper.The tree of life bears twelve kinds of fruit,
planted beside the river
of God that flows from
His throne.It will be a place of no
sin, sickness or sorrow.God will wipe
away every tear from our eyes.We will
put on a robe of immortality.Death for the
Christian is just moving day.It is
moving out of the old house we used to occupy, which is no longer fit for
habitation, and moving into a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.

Christ gave us peace in our hearts, the preparation of our
home, and, also, a promise of certain hope, “Because I live, you will live also.”(John 14:19b)Hopes that withered on Friday, would bloom
anew on Sunday!The source of our hope
is in the fact that Jesus is alive!He
has conquered death, hell, and the grave.The span of our hope is forever—eternal life in glory!What a blessed hope this is!No matter what you face today—the best is yet
to come!No matter how dark the hour—the
brightest day is going to dawn!

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About Me

I am a mountaineer by birth--a native of Asheville, NC. For a period of ten years I lived in the Charlotte area and for the last eighteen, I have been "home." I was brought up in a Christian family. In fact, I went to church nine months before I was born! Despite the best efforts of parents and preachers, I went astray. The Prodigal Son story that Jesus told in Luke 15 became my story--a sordid life of drugs and booze and that's enough for you to know. But at the age of eighteen all I had been taught came flooding back into my mind when I saw the mess I was in. Christ changed me. I gave my life to Him and as a result have spent the last three decades preaching the Gospel. I'm not all I ought to be and certainly not what I one day shall be, but thankfully, not what I used to be! God has blessed me with a great wife, five wonderful children and so far, twelve grandchildren. To Him be the glory and praise, now and forever.